Real-time virtual haptization of an object surface measured by a high-speed projector-camera system

This paper reports real-time virtual haptization of, for example, a remote object surface based on high-speed 3D shape measurement. With this system, the operator feels sense of touch as if tracing the surface of an object. We use a high-speed projector-camera system to achieve high-speed measurement of the object surface so that high-frequency haptic feedback is maintained at a haptic device PHANToM. An actively directed structured light is projected so that the projected slit ray intersects with the haptic interaction point, which is determined by the stylus position of the haptic device. A camera image of this scene gives the positional relationship between the object surface and the haptic interaction point. We use this relationship to generate force feedback such that the haptic interaction point is pushed back to a point on the intersection of the slit ray and the object surface. Experimental results show that the proposed system displays an object shape correctly and that the high-speed measurement contributes to displaying smooth motion of an moving object.